On Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Harper had decided against attending this year’s meetings in Beijing so that he can spend Remembrance Day in Ottawa — a day that will be particularly solemn following the murders last week of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.

The only times the prime minister hasn’t spent Remembrance Day in Ottawa were in 2010 — when he was visiting South Korea — and 2012, when he was in Hong Kong.

On both occasions, he nonetheless participated in local ceremonies with Canadian veterans.

The Seoul G20 meetings began on November 11 2010, but the prime minister was still able to attend a ceremony before the meetings began, and lay a wreath in front of the Canadian plaque honouring the Canadians who died in the Korean War.

In 2012, he marked Remembrance Day in Hong Kong at the Sai Wan Bay military cemetery where 283 Canadian soldiers are buried.

In between those, there was the 2011 APEC Leaders’ summit, which began on November 12 in Honolulu. On November 11 of that year, the prime minister participated in an event at the National War Memorial in Ottawa before departing for Hawaii.

All that to say, despite a crowded schedule, the prime minister has never allowed international obligations to get in the way of paying tribute to Canadians who’ve lost their lives serving their country.

With this year’s APEC summit beginning on November 11 itself, that may have been harder, but the South Korea example shows it’s been managed in the past. The obvious difference, it would appear, is what happened last week.

Strangely, however, the prime minister’s attendance at the Beijing APEC summit, and a much-touted bilateral program with China tacked on to the summit, never seem to have been confirmed in the first place.

As of October 6, the PMO couldn’t say whether he’d be attending either the APEC summit, or the G20 meetings in Brisbane, Australia on November 15 and 16, so it’s not clear when the decision was actually made.

When asked Tuesday, the PMO wouldn’t say.

Expert opinion differs on the implications of Harper pulling out of the summit and China visit.

Keith Beardsley, a former senior adviser to Harper, told iPolitics he thought the prime minister would always put Remembrance Day ahead of APEC. And never more so than now.

“After the recent deaths of the two soldiers I think he had no choice. He needs to be here for both those presently serving and to show respect for our veterans,” he wrote in an email.

Others see things a little differently. One expert on Canada-China relations, speaking on background, suggested the decision was shrewd and would placate the China skeptics in the Conservative base while also avoiding the problem of securing a meaningful bilateral meeting with the Chinese leadership.

But Harper’s absence from the APEC meeting, they added, will be “glaring”.

Stewart Beck, the president and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation, disagreed.

“The Chinese will understand completely…I don’t think that’s going to create any sort of bilateral backlash, because APEC — yes, it’s in China — but I’m sure this would be the same situation if this (was taking place) in the Philippines. It’s not a country-specific kind of thing,” he said.

“They’re really supportive of their military as well. They would see that and understand it.”